Our financial professionals are warning us to prepare for the bitterest of medicine for at least the next 5 years. They recommend that we go cap-in-hand to either China or the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We are already being indebted to China, and the details of those loans are being kept secret. Secret dealings rarely benefit the public, and the public normally realises this when it is too late. However, going to the IMF with no good options left, is to surrender Barbadians to extreme austerity.
The IMF’s role is to protect any foreign currency earned by Barbados from Barbadian consumers. The two most efficient and effective means of doing this are currency devaluation and increasing taxes. Currency devaluation makes the foreign currency more expensive to purchase, and raising taxes leaves families with less money to purchase foreign currency, after paying their monthly expenses.
Since our banks are foreign owned, the home mortgage interest rates will rise so that the banks’ shareholders can maintain their profits. Since most homeowners borrowed to their borrowing limit, they are unlikely to afford a significant increase in their mortgage rates. Therefore, unless they are earning foreign currency, every person paying a home mortgage will likely lose their house within 3 years, and most of the middle class will be reduced to poverty. That is easily foreseen, so why are other political parties and financial analysts proposing this nightmare scenario for us? The answer is that they simply cannot see any other way.
We need not despair. About 3 years ago, Solutions Barbados published their economic and social plans for the public to examine, criticise and improve, on Solutions Barbados.com. To give the public sufficient confidence in their plan, they sent it to several independent non-partisan economists and accountants to critically examine.
They recently received their first report from a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados. He confirmed that this plan results in Barbados running a surplus in their first year, without the need to go to the IMF or other countries for external funding. This means that Barbados reverses all the downgrades and returns to investment grade in their first year.
The independent analyst also confirmed that the plan does not require the laying off or salary reduction of a single public worker – but they are to be properly managed. Finally, he recommended that the other parties pushing austerity need to look at the plan, which is the only non-austerity plan on the table.
Solutions Barbados is a group of 25 experts in their fields, each with approximately 20 years of experience, and each of whom love God and people. They are offering themselves as a competent alternative to what we have had to endure for far too long. They are an elite group, but they are not, in any way elitist. Their plans are very simple so that they can be implemented easily, but they are not, in any way simplistic.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.